Current Affairs Questions

Explanation :

• The Chinese paddlefish (Psephurus gladius),native to the Yangtze River was one of the world's largest species of freshwater species.
• It was one of only two living species of paddlefish, the other being the American paddlefish (Polyodon spathula) part of an ancient group of fish known to have existed since the Lower Jurassic, 200 million years ago. It was also the only species in the genus Psephurus.
• Referred to as the “aquatic panda of rivers”, the Chinese paddlefish was an elusive and long-protected species. Capable of growing up to 7 meters long, it had a distinctive elongated nose.
• Prior to the extinction, it was listed as “critically endangered,” by the IUCN.
• It is the third species unique to the Yangtze River ecosystem to be declared extinct, following the Baiji dolphin in 2006 and the Chinese shad in 2015.

Explanation :

• Epiphany is a feast day, or a day of commemoration, which in Christianity marks the visit of the Magi (meaning the Three Wise Men or Three Kings) to the Infant Jesus (Christ from his nativity until age 12).
• According to Christian belief, the Magi — Balthasar, Melchior, and Gaspar (or Casper), the kings of Arabia, Persia, and India, respectively — followed a miraculous guiding star to Bethlehem, where they paid homage to the Infant Jesus.
• The visit is believed to signify Jesus’ physical manifestation to the Gentiles (non-Jewish people).
• It is among the three oldest and major festival days in Christianity, the two others being Christmas and Easter. It is celebrated on January 6 by a number of Christian sects, including Roman Catholics, and on January 19 by some Eastern Orthodox churches.
• In Goa, the celebration is known by its Portuguese name ‘Festa dos Reis’, and in parts of Kerala by its Syriac name ‘Denha’.

Explanation :

• Miyawaki is a technique pioneered by Japanese botanist Akira Miyawaki that helps build dense, native forests.
• It involves planting dozens of native species in the same area, and becomes maintenance-free after the first three years.
• In this, multi-layered saplings are planted close to each other. This blocks sunlight from reaching the ground and prevents weeds from growing, thus keeping the soil moist. The close cropping further ensures that the plants receive sunlight only from the top thus enabling them only to grow upwards than sideways.
• The approach is supposed to ensure that plant growth is 10 times faster and the resulting plantation is 30 times denser than usual.

Explanation :

• Seke means "golden language" which originated in the Mustang district of Nepal.
• According to the Endangered Language Alliance (ELA), Seke is one of the over 100 indigenous languages of Nepal and is mainly spoken in the five villages of Chuksang, Chaile, Gyakar, Tangbe and Tetang in the Upper Mustang district.
• It is one of the endangered languages in the world. There are just 700 Seke speakers left in the world.
• According to ELA, difficult conditions at home and job prospects elsewhere have brought speakers of Seke to places such as Pokhara, Kathmandu and even New York. Therefore, the vulnerability of the language is linked to the migration of people to places where Seke is not spoken, which has reduced the intergenerational transmission of the language. Furthermore, the younger generation does not find much use in learning the language, giving preference to Nepali and English.

Explanation :

• On 9^th January, 2020, Andhra Pradesh Chief Minister Jagan Mohan Reddy launched Amma Vodi Scheme in Chittoor district. It is one of the nine flagship programmes of Andhra Government.
• The scheme will be commencing from 26^th January, 2020 on the eve of Republic Day.
• Amma Vodi is available to ration card holders, who fall under the Below Poverty Line and clear a few more criteria related to their economic status.
• The scheme aims at benefitting school students studying in classes I to XII. It includes both public and private schools.
• Amma Vodi scheme will be exclusively offered for students who are undergoing their education in Government and private schools in AP, and Intermediate students pursuing in government and private colleges.
• Under the scheme, an amount of Rs.15,000 per year will be offered to support a student towards his education.

Explanation :

• Tulu belongs to the southern branch of the family of Dravidian languages. It descends directly from Proto-Southern Dravidian, which in turn descends directly from Proto-Dravidian, the hypothesized mother language from which all Dravidian languages descend.
• Tulu is a text book example of linguistic discrimination. Its speakers are concentrated in two coastal districts of Karnataka and in Kasaragod district of Kerala.
• Kasaragod district is called ‘Sapta Bhasha Samgama Bhumi (the confluence of seven languages)’, and Tulu is among the seven.
• The cities of Mangaluru, Udupi and Kasaragod are the epicentres of Tulu culture.
• Apart from Tulu Nadu, a significant emigrant population of Tulu speaking people is found in Maharashtra, Bengaluru, Chennai, the English-speaking world, and the Gulf countries.
• The oldest available inscriptions in Tulu are from the period between 14th to 15th Century AD.These inscriptions are in the Tigalari script and are found in areas in and around Barkur which was the capital of Tulu Nadu during the Vijayanagar period.

Explanation :

• Financial Intelligence Unit – India (FIU-IND) was set by the Government of India on 18th November 2004 as the central national agency responsible for receiving, processing, analyzing and disseminating information relating to suspect financial transactions.
• It is an independent body reporting directly to the Economic Intelligence Council (EIC) headed by the Finance Minister.
• FIU-IND is a multi disciplinary body with a sanctioned strength of 75 personnel. These are being inducted from different organizations namely Central Board of Direct Taxes (CBDT), Central Board of Excise and Customs (CBEC), Reserve Bank of India (RBI), Securities Exchange Board of India (SEBI), Department of Legal Affairs and Intelligence agencies.
• FIU-IND is responsible for coordinating and strengthening efforts of national and international intelligence, investigation and enforcement agencies in pursuing the global efforts against money laundering and financing of terrorism.

Explanation :

• The structure, known as the ‘Taj of the Deccan’ because of its striking resemblance to the Taj Mahal, was commissioned by Emperor Aurangzeb in 1660 in the memory of his first wife Dilras Banu Begum (posthumously known as Rabia-ud-Daurani).
• Also called the Tomb of the Lady, Bibi Ka Maqbara was designed by Ataullah, the son of Ahmad Lahauri, the architect of the Taj Mahal which explains its appearance heavily based on the prime marvel.

Explanation :

• The idea of creation of Zonal Councils was mooted by the first Prime Minister of India, Pandit Jawahar Lal Nehru in 1956 when during the course of debate on the report of the States Re-organisation Commission.
• The Zonal Councils are the statutory (and not the constitutional) bodies, established by an Act of the Parliament- States Reorganisation Act of 1956.
• The act divided the country into five zones- Northern, Central, Eastern, Western and Southern and provided a zonal council for each zone.
• North Eastern Council (NEC) is a statutory advisory body constituted under the NEC Act 1971 and came into being on the 7th November, 1972 at Shillong. Eight States of Northeast India viz. Arunachal Pradesh, Assam, Manipur, Meghalaya, Mizoram, Nagaland, Tripura and Sikkim, are members of the council, with their respective Chief Ministers and Governors representing them.

Composition

• The Zonal Council meetings are chaired by the Union Home Minister. The Chief Ministers and two Ministers from the member States are the members ineach Zonal Council. In case of UTs, there are two members from each UT.

Zonal Councils and Member States

• The Northern Zonal Council, comprising the States of Haryana, Himachal Pradesh, , Punjab, Rajasthan, National Capital Territory of Delhi and Union Territories of Chandigarh, Jammu & Kashmir and Ladakh
• The Central Zonal Council, comprising the States of Chhattisgarh, Uttarakhand, Uttar Pradesh and Madhya Pradesh.
• The Eastern Zonal Council, comprising the States of Bihar, Jharkhand, Orissa, Sikkim and West Bengal.
• The Western Zonal Council, comprising the States of Goa, Gujarat, Maharashtra and the Union Territories of Daman & Diu and Dadra & Nagar Haveli.
• The Southern Zonal Council, comprising the States of Andhra Pradesh, Karnataka, Kerala, Tamil Nadu and the Union Territory of Puducherry.

Explanation :

• On 2^nd January, 2019, the Ministry of External Affairs (MEA) set up New, Emerging and Strategic Technologies (NEST) division, as a nodal division within the ministry to deal with issues like new and emerging technologies.
• NEST will help the country to collaborate with other countries in the field of 5G and artificial intelligence which are in line with India’s security goals.

Roles and Responsibilities of NEST

• The NEST will be empowered to formulate India's external technology policy in coordination with domestic stakeholders which are in line with India's developmental priorities and national security goals.
• It will also assist in evaluating foreign policy and international legal implications of new and emerging technologies and technology-based resources.
• It will also recommend a suitable foreign policy choice. Further, in multilateral and plurilateral frameworks, it will negotiate technology governance rules, standards, and architecture that are best suited for India's condition.
• The division will also be holding responsibility for matters that involves negotiations with multilateral fora like the United Nations,G20. This will help to safeguard India’s interests as such forums govern the rules of access to such technologies.